State's attorney candidates trade barbs in warmup for tonight
The two major candidates for Cook County State's Attorney traded barbs Wednesday night at a forum on WTTW's Chicago Tonight, sticking to their main themes of experience versus an emphasis on fighting corruption.
Republican Tony Peraica and Democrat Anita Alvarez faced off under the moderation of veteran broadcaster Carol Marin in a prelude to a debate they will have tonight, when they will be joined by Green Party candidate Thomas O'Brien. The three are all vying to replace retiring state's attorney Dick Devine.
In Wednesday's forum, Peraica continued to try to tie Alvarez, currently the No. 3 prosecutor in the state's attorney office, with what he describes as the office's lackluster history in prosecuting political and police corruption. He seized on the federal government's recent indictment of former Chicago police Commander Jon Burge as an area where the state's attorney's office has looked the other way. Burge was charged Tuesday with lying in depositions about the alleged torture.
Peraica accused Alvarez of being part of a "conspiracy of silence" aimed at protecting state's attorneys from accountability in the Burge case.
Alvarez, a 22-year veteran of the state's attorney's office, noted that she was not in a position of authority when the Burge case broke. Repeating comments from a Daily Herald editorial board interview earlier in the day, she said special prosecutors who looked into the Burge case recently were unable to pursue Burge for torture because the statute of limitations had expired.
She said she supported the federal action against Burge and "we cooperated fully" with federal investigators pursuing the question of perjury.
Alvarez has emphasized she has prosecuted cases of corruption against special operations police officers on the Chicago Police Department and that the office has charged and indicted several politicians, including four Cook County administrators charged with stealing money from the county's office of employment training.
She sought to portray Peraica, who has never been a county prosecutor, as too inexperienced for the job and hinted he might abuse the office against political enemies. She says she will prosecute corruption, but not at the expense of ignoring violent crime, the office's main priority.
"I think it's ironic that a career politician would talk about removing politics from this office," Alvarez said in the WTTW debate, responding to a Peraica vow to make that his top priority.
Tonight's debate involving the three candidates will be hosted by ABC 7's Andy Shaw, but will not be broadcast live on the station's main channel. Instead it will be broadcast on ABC 7.2, which can be found on Comcast Channel 217 or Wide Open West Channel 101. The debate can also be seen live on the station's Web site, abc7chicago.com. The debate will be rebroadcast on ABC's main Channel 7 on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1:30 p.m.
Daily Herald assistant managing editor Jim Slusher contributed to this report.
Tonight's debate
All three candidates for Cook County state's attorney will face off tonight at 7 p.m. in a debate hosted by Andy Shaw of ABC 7 Chicago. The debate will be broadcast on ABC 7.2, which can be found on Comcast Channel 217 or Wide Open West Channel 101. The debate can also be seen live on the station's Web site, abc7chicago.com and will be rebroadcast on ABC's main Channel 7 on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 1:30 p.m.